After a year long wait, Needler's Fresh Market targeting April opening

After a year long delay from the original estimated April 4, 2018 opening, the Teal Road grocery store plans to open it's doors in mid April, director of marketing Julie Needler-Anderson said.(Photo: John Terhune/Journal & Courier)

LAFAYETTE, Ind.— New shelves are slowing coming together under the roof of Needler's Fresh Market, with new workers hustling to get displays in order before the doors officially open in mid April.

Julie Needler-Anderson, director of marketing for Needler's Fresh Market, said being a smaller family owned business, their resources aren't as comparable to the bigger box stores, leading the company to pool those resources in other areas immediately needed, delaying the originally estimated April 4, 2018 opening date.

"Those projects are now done, so it is time for us to focus on this store," Needler-Anderson said. "We wanted to do it right; we didn't want to skimp on anything."

But that year-long wait wasn't a total standstill, Needler-Anderson said. Though the doors weren't open, on Tuesday the Needler's crew worked on stock rooms of the Lafayette store, located at 2250 Teal Road, among other smaller prep work leading up to this point.

"We've spent the time to make this place better, instead of opening quicker and maybe not having things just so," she said. "Part of doing it right."

Based out of Findlay, Ohio, Needler-Anderson said the company, Fresh Encounter, is a third generation family-owned business since 1964, now owned between Needler-Anderson and her brother Michael Needler. The brand "Needler's" was born after the company purchased former Marsh locations in June 2017, Needler-Anderson said.

When Marsh went out of business, Needler-Anderson said they didn't want to see the independence those stores held among other bigger box entities die.

Randy Winchester, director of operations for the Lafayette Needler's, said he was formerly the district supervisor for the former Marsh store up until its closure. He then went on to work in Indianapolis, living in Lafayette driving back and forth between the cities daily, until he was approached by Needler-Anderson and her team.

"It is really neat, more than anything, being able to serve the direct need for our local customers," Winchester said. "We have a lot of customers who walk or don't have other means of transportation, so I am excited for them."

Needler-Anderson said customers can expect to see local brands they love, such as Indiana Kitchen pork products and Miller Amish Country Poultry, but the store's operators are always looking to stock what residents want to see on their shelves.

The other gain out of the impending opening of Needler's, Winchester said, is for the fellow businesses within the Lafayette Square strip mall.

"This is going to create a lot more activity among the strip mall, and their businesses help keep our section of the strip alive, too," he said. "This is going to be a better service for our community, as well as our neighbors."

And those neighbors are raking in those benefits, too, as the local grocer has already employed several neighborhood residents to prepare for the store's opening, offering full-time and part-time positions.

Tracy Davis, a Needler's employee, said she lives in the neighborhood and formerly worked at the Teal Road Marsh until it closed. She saw the strain the loss of the store took on her neighbors.

"I know our local customers, and I know how badly this store is needed," Davis said. "There are so many people consolidated, just even across the street, and to not have something here was like a food desert for the neighborhood."

The feedback from her neighbors on Needler's immanent opening, Davis said, has been pure excitement.

"Being here, it feels like I am back home," she said.

Needler-Anderson said grand opening events are planned for the Needler's mid-April opening and will be announced closer to the opening date.

Contact reporter Jillian Ellison at 765-420-5228 or at jeellison@gannett.com.